Which organism is most associated with neurocysticercosis?

• A. Taenia solium
• B. Taenia saginata
• C. Echinococcus granulosus
• D. Diphyllobothrium latum

Answer: (A)

Neurocysticercosis occurs when the larval stage (cysticerci) of Taenia solium ends up in the brain after a person ingests eggs shed by a person with taeniasis. Humans become intermediate hosts for this parasite, and the developing cysticerci in the CNS cause seizures, headaches, and other neurologic symptoms. This makes Taenia solium the organism most linked to neurocysticercosis.

Taenia saginata, the beef tapeworm, can infect humans but typically only as an intestinal infection and does not cause cysticerci in the brain. Echinococcus granulosus leads to hydatid disease with cysts mainly in the liver and lungs, not CNS cysts from the same mechanism. Diphyllobothrium latum is a fish tapeworm associated with vitamin B12 deficiency rather than brain cysts.